Minister arrested for indecent liberties with a minor

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) -- New Hanover County Sheriff's detectives have arrested a minister on multiple sex crimes, including five counts of indecent liberties with a minor and five counts of first-degree sex offense.

According to the church's website, Thomas Archie Wiggins Jr. is the superintendent and pastor of Faith Temple Church of God in Christ in Wilmington. A Facebook page shows he is superintendent of Bolton Church of God in Christ in Columbus County.

According to the Sheriff's Office Wiggins, 54, was arrested and charged today for crimes that took place back in 1998. He is currently being held in the New Hanover County Detention Facility under a $100,000 secure bond.

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As a young saint I came to this area and when I first met him, the Lord showed me that in him. That being the sexual perversion. I did say it and people said "don't say that he is a high ranking Elder" I did not even know him, yet God showed me his Spirit. So I just put it in God's hands. I am so glad that he has been exposed. Now Father I pray in the Name of Jesus that you would heal the souls that were violated by this sexual predator, in the name of Jesus. I pray that A. Wiggins will repent and never do things like this again Amen. I cried so hard when I learned of this. I said it to someone that I felt he was some in sexual sins and was just told to hush because I should not say things like that about a high ranking person in the church. I did not know of this crime ( I met him in the eighties and when I first met him I was like I am getting this perverted vibe from him) Immediately I was shunned by some for saying I had this vibe. I just put it in God's hands and JUSTICE HAS BEEN DONE. I am so glad.

You will know them by their fruits. COGIC does not represent the beliefs of the majority of Christians and some of their beliefs are rightly considered heretical by Bible-believing Christians.

The Church of God in Christ was formed in 1897 by a group of disfellowshiped Baptists, most notably Charles Price Jones (1865–1949) and the founder Charles Harrison Mason (1866–1961). Jones and Mason were licensed Baptist ministers in Mississippi in the 1890s who were disfellowshiped by the local Baptist association for preaching the doctrine of Christian perfection also known as "Holiness." They became associated with a group of men who would become the early African American leaders of the Holiness Movement in the late 19th century.

Holiness was interpreted by many Christian mainline denominations of the late nineteenth century as heresy because proponents of Holiness taught that an individual could be delivered from the practice of sin and live free from sin in this present world through the power of the Holy Spirit. This could only be experienced however, if one had received the baptism in the Holy Spirit which was an experience subsequent to salvation where the believer was cleansed from his or her original sin that had been passed on to all men through Adam. This experience became known as "sanctification." Many revivals were conducted and many new converts testified to being "sanctified," thus being transformed from sinners to "saints." This term "saint" is still used by the COGIC faithful when addressing themselves. Jones and Mason began teaching the doctrine of Holiness and Sanctification in their baptist churches. Mason was heavily influenced by the testimony of the African-American Methodist evangelist Amanda Berry Smith who testified that she had been sanctified in the early 1890s. However, once people testified to being "sanctified," many were persecuted and expelled from their mainline churches and began to establish new independent churches. In 1896, Jones and Mason conducted such a revival in Jackson, Mississippi that led to their expulsion from the local baptist association.

With God, sin is sin. There is no big sin and little sin. It's all judged equally in God's eyes. His ways are not our ways.

God will not allow sin to enter heaven. So without repentance, someone who lies will go to hell just as quickly as someone who murders.

There is only one unforgivable sin, and that is blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Speaking against the Holy Spirit is equivalent to rejecting Jesus Christ with such finality that no future repentance is possible.

Actually, Nick, if you've been reading the news the last few years you would realize these perverts come from every denomination and sect. Seems to be a huge problem within the Christian community as a whole. This god you worship doesn't seem to care about the well being of children in your churches at all. Maybe it's time you gave up believing in the invisible man in the sky.

If someone simply searches for information regarding this particular "Denomination" they might discover that this arrest is 1 of multiple arrests around the country involving "Pastors" of "COGIC churches".

Sadly COGIC International places all blame on the local congregation, victim and/or victims family. Equally important to consider is that while COGIC International blames the above, it REQUIRES and gladly accepts hundreds of millions of US dollars each year from the local church members,local church elders, pastors, bishops, jurisdiction and jurisdictional Bishops. In addition, if any listed party fails to pay the REQUIRED annual fees, COGIC International will extinguish the membership.

In my opinion, research will demonstrate that this is the same as the Catholic Church matters without the national press coverage.

it's time to pray that all victims of sexual abuse come forward. why do you people feel that because someone is a pastor that he is above doing something like this? are you people stupid? it's time out for cover ups, and time to call these jokers to the carpet. you all wear masks every sunday, coming in faking the funk, acting holier than thou, what makes you think your so called pastor isn't doing the same thing? you care nothing for the victims or their families or what they have been through all these years. all you want to do is to protect your So called "mand of god". if it was your child or someone in your family you would be thinking differently or maybe you would it, and that is a darn shame.

Yes it is a shame, I am saved, I use to be in COGIC long time ago and I seen a lot of mess, high and mighty saints, hold there head up, won't even speak to you, after you smile in there face and say praise the Lord, they look at you like, you speaking to me, I am Evangelist so and so, I am pastor so and so don't come up to me like that. Some think they are made of gold, you will get a nasty look if you don't call them by they titles. I thank God for keeping me, I thank God for Pastors/Bishops and what ever title they may have, but I don't have pastor salvation, I have Jesus salvation. What is wrong is wrong, yes you should pray for the pastor, but you have to think of the ones who went though the hurt, those are the ones we need to pray for. I read what some one said, God will forgive and heal this pastor, yes he will if he repents, but the law will take justice on him, huh...you will reap what you have sow, he will be saved in prison. The law will make sure he is so far from children. There was a question, what if it was your child. Where there any real true prophet in the house there, God would have told you what was going on with this preacher, or did you do like that coach. kept silence.

No one is great or Greater than God. I am just a servant. A servant who left the COGIC a servant who loves her pastor she has now, but don't have pastor salvation. A servant who prays but not prey on others. A servant who goes to the Lord and said forgive me and repent and don't do it again. God has some real men and woman of God still that is living right for real.

Have any of you quoting scriptures and defending the so called "great man of God" stop to think about the obvious. No one can tell anyone when enough time is enough. Who cares if it happened 13 or 30 years ago. This man has been molesting children in the church for years but we should just let God handle it. Well in my eyes he is ... The TRUTH about your "man of God" has come to light and it's time to pay for his sins. How dare you sit before people everyday and portray this saintly being while you're destroying young men's lives forever. However I guarantee none of you have stopped to say "God bless these still young souls who took a stand." Have you stopped to think how this man destroyed lives and our walks with God. I say lock him up and throw away the key. This isn't about money or notariety its about whats RIGHT AND WRONG and he is DEAD WRONG.

I do not know this pastor and have no idea of the type of man he is. What I will say is the victim in this case is to be commended for coming forth. This had to be a difficult sitituation for this young man to attempt. Part of their healing is bring their abuser to justice. The fact the the accused is a pastor means nothing to me. There is not staute of limitations on reporting this type of offense in most states. This type of abuse cause serious harm to the child and takes years or even a lifetime to overcome. God is with this young man and will give him strength through all of this. (See how God can be on both sides of this depending on how you look at it.)

The crimes that Pastor Wiggins is charge with are below.

§ 14‑27.7A. Statutory rape or sexual offense of person who is 13, 14, or 15 years old.

(a) A defendant is guilty of a Class B1 felony if the defendant engages in vaginal intercourse or a sexual act with another person who is 13, 14, or 15 years old and the defendant is at least six years older than the person, except when the defendant is lawfully married to the person.

§ 14‑202.1. Taking indecent liberties with children.

(a) A person is guilty of taking indecent liberties with children if, being 16 years of age or more and at least five years older than the child in question, he either:

(1) Willfully takes or attempts to take any immoral, improper, or indecent liberties with any child of either sex under the age of 16 years for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire; or

(2) Willfully commits or attempts to commit any lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body or any part or member of the body of any child of either sex under the age of 16 years.

(b) Taking indecent liberties with children is punishable as a Class F felony.

There will be more cases like this coming to the surface. People need to see Pastors for the humans they are.

Look, I get this MAN has only been accused of a crime, and YES, in this country, we are “innocent” until proven guilty. (I don’t personally know this dude and don’t care to comment on his guilt or innocence; not for me to decide.) However, I DO know this deviant behavior is excessively RAMPANT in these so called “churches”, as I have personally experienced its effects. The truth is we are all capable of doing some dirty mess, perhaps not to a child, but certainly towards ourselves or each other, a fact we would all do well to remember when we start to “judge” anyone….(Matt 7). If he is indeed found guilty of this crime, he will and should be punished according to the law. That being said, the whole “attack of the devil on God’s people” shtick is getting really old! WE (believers) need to be more accountable than that… WE are the ones enabling and even covering up this foolishness…. Here’s a thought: we have placed these humans on such pedestals, and have been so erroneously taught that they have so much more value in the family of God. When they perpetrate madness and harm others, most just go along with it in the name of righteousness and “protecting the Man(d) of God” C’mon man…All this out-of-context scripture quoting and zombie like repetition is a big part of why the church is SO dysfunctional… And for the folks using the ”touch not my anointed…” phrase over and over…PLEEEEASE go study that in the proper context and not from what has been regurgitated to you most of your life…it is NOT a “let Passuh or Bishup do whatever he/she wants to and get away with it” card! STOP STOP STOP exalting these men and women so highly… Some of these comments illuminate the ignorance so many church folks are bound in all throughout the body of believers. Stop confusing the functions in body mentioned in Ephesians 4 and replacing them with our seriously flawed man-made titles and offices…that was NEVER the intentions of our Lord Yeshua(Jesus)...see Matthew 23! We are to be a family of equals…different functions for sure, but no one more important than the other...Perhaps when more believers grasp that, this (and other) sinful behaviors will no longer be hidden, but will come to the Light, be exposed, dealt with, and healed… Then we can stop talking about all this “power” and actually manifest it…

The bible says touch NOT my annointed! I will not sit on here and talk about the situation, but ima PRAY about it. But what I will say is GOD will shut the mouth of the DEVIL!! Those who sit and talk about the man of God needs to STOP and pray. If u dont know the story then you need not to put your mouth on him. And if you dont know GOD for yourself u might want to get to know him. GOD is angry and u dont want to be in the hands of a angry GOD. But he's with us and its ALREADY DONE! So make fun,and lie & talk. But when God put something on the mouth of the OUTSIDERS it wont be pretty. Watch what u say about God's people. People are leaving this world EVERYDAY, and if u dont be careful it just might be you NEXT! Pastor I'm praying for you, and know NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST YOU SHALL PROSPER..IT WONT WORK! GOD will get the GLORY out of this.

I would surmise that being free of imaginary idols and cumbersome rules regarding human reproduction interpreted by religious fanatics, frees oneself to pursue healthy relationships among their peers and not need to resort to predatory practices on the vulnerable.

The sexual predators list is FULL of people with no stated religious affiliation. The reason you hear about cases like this one on the news is that it IS shocking that someone who professes to be close to God would hurt others in this way. We still do not know if it is true and I disagree with whomever stated that the police do not file charges without some "proof". Sometimes the only evidence is someone's horrifyingly shocking story. Their job is to press charges and the court's job is to try to sort out whether there is merit to the story. It is not nearly as uncommon as you think for this to go either way. People's lives and careers have been trashed over false allegations (it's kind of hard to prove a negative ie that you did NOT do something. I mean can you account for every minute of every day of your life 13 years ago?!) and people have been let go to do egregious harm for far too long. Unless you know something you have not come forward with, I suggest you wait until some evidence or proof comes out before you bash people of faith. Plenty of people who are athiests have committed crimes (the Columbine boys come to mind) does that make YOU like them if you are an Athiest?

ELDER WIGGINGS WE ARE PRAYING FOR YOU LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS, HOWEVER THE SINNERS CAN'T JUDGE YOU. THE SAINTS CAN- BUT WHEN A PERSON REPENTS- JUDGEMENT STOP!!!PRAY ONE TO ANOTHER; DON'T BE SLANDERS, BUSY BODIES, ETC. OUR JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS THE BLAME, NOT THE DEVIL:: THIS HAPPENS DAILY-PEOPLE REPORT FALSE ALLEGATIONS, THAT HAVE YOU ARRESTED- THE PROBLEM IS THAT THE ALLEGATIONS ARE INVESTIGATED AFTER THE CHARGES RATHER THAN BEFORE THE CHARGES IN WHICH FALLS UNDER MALICE PROSECUTOR / DEFAMATORY UNLESS PROVEN @ TRIAL OF THE MATTER. HEY LOOK EVEN IF HE DID A CRIME- HE'S NOT RUNNING AWAY SO WHY IS HIS BOND EXTRORDINARY WITH HIM PASTORING 2 CHURCHES- REDUCE HIS BOND/MODIFY IT TO HOUSE ARREST IF YOU THINK HE'S A FUGITIVE :: COME ON THE JUDGE ON FIRST APPEARANCE SHOULD SEE THROUGH THIS- ANOTHER STATE DOES NOT TAKE PRESIDENCE OVER NC AND IF A CHARGE DERIVED FROM OTHER STATE - THEN WHY IS NEW HANOVER BEING COPS AND ROBIN?

I believe he has been delivered, as well as forgiven if he had the courage to plead guilty. God has forgiven him. HOWEVER, you must reap what you sow. He needs to do the time for what he did. That is my position on this. God bless you. If they let him out it will cancel every message he has ever preached as well as those that have gone on before him. A famous saying in COGIC is "that we have to be first partakers in what we preach" I heard this man preach very hard messages about sin not being an option so there fore he must live by the same sword he cut with. ok?